


chapter one

by FujoshiForBrownies



Series: Boxing Gloves [1]
Category: Vampire Knight (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/M, Gen, M/M, To Be Continued
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-02-18 06:10:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13094064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujoshiForBrownies/pseuds/FujoshiForBrownies
Summary: What started off as a chance meeting for 18-year-old Toga Yagari and 20-year-old Kaien Cross ends up being an inseparable friendship.





	1. His Hands Are Warm

"And that concludes our tour of the farm." Toga looked around at the visitors crowded around him. One girl was tentatively petting a cow, her nose wrinkled every time it tried to sniff her. The rest of them - which was about 2o or so, by his calculations - were watching him openly with either boredom, eagerness, or exhaustion. Toga couldn't blame them - the farm he shared with his father was humongous, and he'd led the small group around the whole half-acre. Taking another glance around, Toga began to lead everyone else back inside for warmth.

He stopped once they reached the large barn doors, and he opened them to let everyone in. he ran his hand over the chipping paint, not even bothering to wipe away the small flecks that stuck to his roughened hands. So many memories had been made behind these doors and inside the barn itself that Toga had lost count. One thing was for sure, though. This place wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It had withstood the test of time and was going to keep on doing so.

Toga was jolted back to reality as cold drops of water hit the top of his head. It was raining. Ushering everybody inside, he closed the door behind them as the first rays of lightning lit up the sky and stony grey thunderclouds. Drops of rain-streaked the windows. Briefly, Toga did a head count to ensure everyone was here. 18...19...21. Good. He went into the kitchen and poured a pitcher of tea, bringing it out to the spacious living room for everybody.

"Sorry, it isn't hot tea." He laughed, setting it on the table. Everyone eventually congregated around the table, save for one person. The brunette he had spotted earlier while counting heads was still standing by one of the enormous windows, his long oat brown hair still damp from the rainstorm. Toga walked over, wanting to give him a towel to dry his hair off with so it wouldn't be dripping when he left, which would be after the storm had ended. The brunette turned around, and for a second, he was mesmerized by the color of the stranger's eyes.

They were a dark golden color, almost like a burnt orange, complementing his pale skin and gold wire-rimmed glasses perfectly. The glasses were thin, and almost kind of....feminine. Kind of pretty. Toga shook his head, then handed the white towel to the stranger. The brunette took it, wrapping it around his hair like a turban.

"Thanks." Kaien laughed, finally putting his glasses back on after cleaning them. The whole appearance - with the wire-rimmed glasses included - was, like before, a misleadingly feminine look. Toga found he actually kind of liked it. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"Mine? Toga Yagari." Toga stuck out one hand, a habit so long ingrained in him that now it was like second-instinct. He did it to everyone he met now, sometimes without even realizing he was doing it. He knew also just how rough his hand would feel considered to Kaien's smoother looking ones, but he paid that fact no mind. "What's yours?"

"Kaien Cross. You know what? This is-" Kaien's statement was cut off as he took Toga's hand by a squeal from the kitchen area, where it seemed like everyone else had huddled together. Well, it was warmer there. Looking over, Toga saw what had alarmed them. A stray streak of lightning - much closer than he had thought - had struck a tree and split it in half. Toga shrugged. He had seen worse. "My first time on a farm."

Toga rolled his eyes. Were all the city folk of today so completely immersed in their lives that they didn't care to do things the olden way?

"Well, you picked a good one." Toga's father came up behind him and laid his hand on his son's shoulder. At 5'3", Rudi wasn't much of an imposing figure - he left that business to Toga, who had acquired that stormy look in his blue eyes at an early age despite his rather laid back upbringing. "This building here's been standing for almost 150 years now."

Kaien's eyes widened as he took in the information and slowly spun around to look up at the vaulted beams of the barn's ceiling with wide eyes. Toga smiled despite himself. It always entertained him to see someone so interested in the barn's history.

"That's amazing!"

Toga checked the clock on one of the walls, and his eyes widened. Already, an hour had passed. It was far too late for any busses to shuttle anyone home, and he wasn't too fond of the idea of anyone walking or driving home when it was so dark out and the rain was still going. Not to mention the lightning, either, which was so close, and he didn't want anyone's car or themselves hit.

"Alright!" Rudi clapped his hands together as he took his own look outside. "Seeing as the storm ain't letting up, I would feel safer if all of you tried to stay here tonight. We have a lot of guest rooms, so there's one for everybody!"

There were cries of dismay and anger, though everyone eventually agreed. Good. the students were split up into separate rooms, and Toga went to his. He didn't even realize he was holding his hand as he walked, feeling the nerves in his palm and fingers tingle from the recent contact with Kaien's hand. It was warmer than he expected.

And...kind of nice too...

 


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in his city college where he belongs, Kaien has a painful flashback from his past life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly angst-y. This came from one of my rare moments when i'm so inspired I have to divide the chapter into two. Yea...

“ _ Cross!” _ the professeur snapped Kaien back to reality, and he nervously flipped his oaty hair over his shoulder. He felt bad for staring out into space like this, especially because he needed desperately to pass this class. He'd taken notes, right? Looking down, he was mortified to find he had written the name of that farm boy he had met on that tour over and over again. What was wrong with him? He was a city boy, and had never seen a farm before. Maybe it was the shock. Shaking all those thoughts away, he focused on taking notes. The class ended, and Kaien made use of his short stature and overall normal appearance to blend in with the rest of the students so the professeur wouldn't notice him. He didn't need to hear someone chewing him out for a class he didn't even truly enjoy. 

 

“Kaien, hey!” Juri ran up, her long curly brown hair bouncing on her shoulders, and hugged her friend tightly. Her eyes - which matched her hair - shone as she walked with him down the hall. No one seemed to pay the overly energetic brunette and her tawny haired friend any attention, which was good. Kaien knew what Juri was about to do if he'd read her right. Juri always seemed to know what was going on with him, reading him like an open book.

 

That was one of the things Kaien despise most about himself - he didn't know how to keep secrets successfully, and always wore his heart on his sleeve. He was an ancient - in human terms - vampire hunter, and had vampire DNA in his system. As he followed Juri to the cafe, he found his mind drifting back to the whole incident that had started this all.  _ That...day… _

 

_ “Here’s your file. Damn Cross.” the orange haired hunter pushed the manilla paper across the table. The papers fluttered as they fell off the edge, falling free of the confines of their paperclips and tabs. Kaien bent down to pick them up, reading over them as he stood up to meet Gankona’s eyes. He was about as stubborn as his name implied, but like Kaien himself was one to talk. He remembered the visits he had made in secret with the Society President ,despite his blatant detestation of her, and how he refused to tell anyone where he had been afterward. _

 

_ … _

 

_ …… _

 

_ Kaien didn't have  to stray far from the headquarters to find the deranged vampire - maybe about a mile - and a shiver ran down his spine at the thought of what would happen if one of these so called beasts managed to find his way into Senate doors. He could already see the splatters of blood that would follow, the gunshots and how the swords would ring, their blades dulled. Steeling his resolve yet again, Kaien lunged.  _

 

_ The rest was a starry dark red. _

_ …. _

 

_ “We need help!”  someone yelled, clutching Kaien’s head. Briefly, he could feel a wet cloth press against his forehead, see droplets run into his eye of water stained faintly pink. Was that his own blood…? What…had happened..?  _

 

_ …… _

 

_ “Sir, how many fingers am I holding up?!” A nurse’s voice sounding slightly frantic. Blurry images in front of his eyes.  _ **_Damn_ ** _. A horrible throbbing pain not in his head, but his shoulder. He didn't know it yet, but three parallel gouges - each about an inch deep - had almost severed his shoulder. “Sir?”  _

 

_ Something pressing against his lips. A straw. Gratefully, Kaien accepted the apple juice, wincing at the taste. Why did it suddenly taste so...so..repulsive? Something pounding in his veins, against his body, from the inside out. Each drop of blood that entered his veins from the drip exploded white stars behind his eyes. _

 

_ Agony. _

 

_ …. _

 

_ …………. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If my mind doesn't stress about this, I should have the other part out tomorrow, on the 24th.


End file.
